Taiwan Tuesday: Stinky Tofu!

Stinky Tofu--O how I love thee!

At 5 in the afternoon, from the courtyard of my grandparents' retirement complex, where various elderly people in afternoon pyjamas strolled around or caught some late afternoon air and gossip with their young, "wailao" (foreign workers) home-help by their sides, I caught the cry of the stinky tofu seller.

Actually, before her cry, I caught her scent. Her stench, to be exact.

"Stinky tofu?" I asked.

La Di, the young woman from Java, who has been caring for my grandparents for the past three years, said, "Right."

"Come on," I said. And we ran out the gate.

Stinky tofu is tofu fermented in a brine made of varying ingredients, but the result is--always--stinky. I've always eaten the resulting tofu deep fried, served with pickled cabbage and hot sauce. The smell is appalling--like the heavy, noxious smell of skunk (with which I've grown familiar since my dogs were sprayed by one a couple weeks ago!), but the taste is mild and delicious. One popular vendor, near Feng Jia University in Taichung, whose cart sign shows them being interviewed by a local tv station, serves extra-large cubes that are popular for their especially crispy skins and the soft, tender tofu inside.

I also love stinky tofu because though it is found in other parts of Asia, it is especially associated with Taiwan. TaiwaneseAmerican.org even sells "Stinky Tofu Walks Alone" t-shirts.

At 40 NT$ a serving, I made it a daily ritual. And everyone who walked in the door of my grandparents' home immediately said, "Stinky tofu?"